With each passing year, the bar for consumer engagement steadily gets higher and higher. Shoppers are moving between digital, in-store, and social without missing a beat, and they expect brands to keep up. That’s forcing marketing teams to rethink how they operate, how they collect and use data, and how they build loyalty in a retail-first world.

In this post, we unpack the key takeaways from a panel discussion with consumer products industry experts, Cristina Marinucci (Mondelez International) and Melda Hamarat (Unilever), at the SAP Emarsys Festival Personalization Masterclass. The conversation covered everything from breaking down internal silos to scaling personalization, working with limited data access, and applying AI in ways that actually make a difference.

New research reveals the attribution challenge of 2025: While 83.8% of retail dollars are spent in-store, consumers typically engage with brands 3+ times across digital channels before purchase. For high-earning consumers ($250k+), this number jumps to 5+ touchpoints.

Today’s consumer journey is complex, with consumers discovering and researching on- and offline, and across digital channels. Our new report explores insights from 1,000 US-based adults on what drives consumers to purchase, and offers strategic guidance for marketers.

While “the store of the future” has been a fascination to the retail industry for over a century, the cold truth is that stores today look and feel far too similar to how they did 10, 15, and in many cases: 20 years ago. When will the promise of all the miraculous technology that surrounds us find its way into retail stores en masse?

To find out, we conducted a different type of research than our usual annual Store Report. Rather than survey all product segments, revenue bands and performance levels, we queried the retailers who are most likely to be at the forefront of technology-enablement in their stores – fashion & specialty retailers – all with high annual revenue. It also focuses on retailers that are outperforming the norm in sales, and as such, can be seen as a deep look into a very specialized – and advanced – set of the retail market.

Consumer preferences and purchasing behaviors are constantly evolving. But how exactly are they changing? What Matters to Today’s Consumer?, a new report from the Capgemini Research Institute, sheds light on key trends shaping the consumer landscape. The report is based on a comprehensive global survey of 12,000 consumers aged 18 and over across 12 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US.

The Personalization Playbook is your go-to guide for proven, high-impact omnichannel marketing tactics that drive engagement, conversions, and customer loyalty. Packed with challenge-led use cases and detailed automation workflows, this Playbook helps you take the guesswork out of execution and build high-performing campaigns. 

What’s Inside

Whether you’re looking to re-engage inactive customers, drive more conversions, or optimize your omnichannel approach, this Playbook gives you the strategies and step-by-step guidance to make it happen. Inside, you’ll find real-world use cases to help you: 

Accenture’s latest research highlights a major change in luxury retail. Heritage and craftsmanship alone no longer secure success. Consumers now demand sustainability, personalization and seamless shopping across digital and physical stores — what Accenture calls “social rewilding.”

What makes a brand desirable today? Accenture identifies seven key factors: exclusivity, craftsmanship, heritage, social value, customer experience, innovation and iconic status. But success doesn’t come from checking every box. The strongest brands prioritize a few, with social value, customer experience and exclusivity standing out.

What do marketers need to know to map a seamless full-funnel journey, from online discovery to in-store purchase? Today’s consumers seamlessly merge e-commerce and in-store experiences, creating personalized journeys that demand a full-funnel marketing approach. 71% of consumers still shop at brick-and-mortar stores.

Yet only 33% shop without digital assistance, relying on online research, mobile apps, or social media to guide them.

As consumer attention continues to fragment across devices and channels, advertisers are broadening their media mix to cut through the noise and stay relevant. While a multichannel strategy is now the norm, true success requires an omnichannel approach — one that unifies audience, creative and media throughout the campaign lifecycle.

The biggest difference between an omnichannel strategy and a multichannel one lies in its unified approach to audience management across campaigns spanning three or more channels. Crucially, this unification goes beyond aggregation. It’s about creating a seamless experience across those channels.